


Stay

by VisionaryGalaxy



Series: A Thousand Futures of Me and You [53]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Boys In Love, Cuddles, Don't copy to another site, Drabble, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Oneshot, Soul Bond, Stephen Strange is bad at feelings, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 08:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17505203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisionaryGalaxy/pseuds/VisionaryGalaxy
Summary: Like Tony said, he was reckless and impulsive and far too addicted to everything that was this man before him.





	Stay

**Author's Note:**

> My muse demanded fluffy emotional boys but I swear Madness and Carnage is almost done!

   Tony wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, which always seemed to be the way with him, but he knew how it didn’t. There was no alcohol, no drugs, no money being exchanged, no whispered promises, all the usual suspects for him to end up here. He could certainly make an educated guess, however.

   The adrenalin of the fight, the rush of victory, the spark in those familiar blue green eyes. It was a cocktail designed to appeal to Tony’s reckless side, specially brewed and carefully crafted to his tastes with just enough danger to seal the deal in a flash. He couldn’t remember choosing to act but he could remember the tension between them as a swirling circle of orange sparks erupted and he followed the lean man through without a moment’s hesitation.

   He could recall now the thick silence, heavy and enticing with unspoken acceptance. Tony is sure they were on the same page from the moment they locked eyes, standing in the middle of his penthouse, suit slowly deteriorating into its housing unit. The intensity in the other man’s gaze was instant damnation, one Tony had been yearning for, for nearly five miserable months now. That should have been the time to think, to step back and consider the consequences, but Tony had never lived his life that way and there was no reason to start now.

   He expected the first touch to be like an electric shock and he was only half right. Tony had been glued to the spot as a trembling hand touched his, caressing as though unsure if the touch would be welcomed. There was no life, no universe in which Tony thought that would ever be the case, because feeling those light shivers against his skin, the touch of calloused and scarred fingers sliding up his elbow and toward his shoulder was captivating, his entire focus, every brain cell hyper aware of his skin.

   The slow progression made his hair stand on end, eyes never straying from the ones trained on him. If he dared looked down, dared look away, he feared it would be over, nothing but a memory faded to dreams in the face of their sure to be casual interactions. So, he held still, breathed deeply and cherished the even slide, until the palm of that hand came to rest on his neck, cupping gently.

   The warmth was overwhelming, in that single touch, in that silence and that gaze Tony felt something he hadn’t experienced in too long. It was comfort, it was safety, it was home. Here he felt the spark, which he swore was the man’s magic running unbridled beneath his delicate human skin. It would be so easy, so very easy to kill him, to make his very being slip out of time and existence. The thought made his heart race and the way his eyes darkened suggested he felt it in the pulse of his neck.

   There was searching in those eyes, Tony wasn’t certain what for, but he did remember the only thought in his brain, the only thought he cared to portray without breaking their gentle limbo, _please_.

   Five months of waiting, of watching, of learning. Tony had never mentioned it, but after Titan he sensed something. A thread, some small tie connecting them and refusing to let them stray, further proven by the look in this man’s eyes. He saw recognition, and pride, and some monstrously large unspeakable thing that was certainly born from the stone that hung around his neck.

   He had wanted to ask many times what was seen in that stone, what possible futures lay before them. He wanted with a desperate kind of need, to know what they were together, what they could be, what they meant. It was communicated in looks while Tony worked in his workshop, was obvious in concerned gazes during battle, was breath-taking in discreet, soft, smiles, not meant to be seen.

   As warm, plush lips pressed devastatingly, gentle to his, Tony prayed for the first time in his life, that this was what he saw. He was used to harsh, hurried kisses from one-night stands, comfortable, expectant kisses from Pepper, the occasional long make out session that was messy and sensual and not a single one of them compared to this feeling.

   Their breathing synched up automatically, Tony inhaling every breath he took and vice versa, until it felt like they were sharing a body, a soul and that was just it. There was something inexplicably and terrifyingly right about the feeling, like it hadn’t just been Tony waiting all this time, but the cosmos waiting with bated breath for something new to start, something that felt like destiny.

   When another shaky hand came to cup his cheek as the lips pressed a little harder Tony couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped, their foreheads pressed together and warm breath fanning over their faced as they caught their breath. His eyes were dark and wide, and Tony knew he felt it too, this energy making their hearts beat a rapid rhythm, this silent promise in the air that there was more to come.

   Like Tony said, he was reckless and impulsive and far too addicted to everything that was this man before him. Without hesitation he pressed forward, his hands sliding into the strands of his hair and tugging him down until they were kissing again, lips moving insistently, tongues claiming space in each other’s mouths.

   Whatever had snapped and given way to bring them here now, could be dealt with later. Tony knew it would fill him with curiosity and send his mind rushing with questions, but for now it didn’t matter. Everything that he was, everything that was him could only focus on the man in his arms right now, could not go for another breath without knowing he belonged to him, like he was always meant too. They had fucked around for too long, and Tony didn’t want to wait, and from the eager hands moving over his body, it was mutually agreed.

 

   Yes, that was what he remembered. Stephen lay next to him, silent with his eyes closed but certainly not asleep. He was beautiful in the dim glow of the room, utterly enchanting, as the light struggled through the cream curtain, to light the room.

   His hair was disheveled, and Tony yearned to run his hands through the strands once more, scratch along the scalp in the way that he discovered made him moan. More then that, he wanted to lean over and lick and kiss the sweat from his heaving chest, wipe it from his brow where it glistened on his pleasantly flush face.

   He did none of this, however, because this was the part that had been dangerous, this was the part that had appealed to reckless side, though now he was beginning to fear it all the same. He didn’t know what had come over them, couldn’t put a name to the emotions that had welled inside and overcame the reservations that had been ruling their interactions these past months, but he hoped desperately for it to remain.

   He felt, that if he were to squint right now, he might be able to make out the thread that tied them together, shifting and straining in anticipation of the moment Stephen opened his eyes and spoke, because Tony already knew he was a slave to the man’s words. There was almost nothing he would deny him, and he believed it was possible he wasn’t so different.

   Tony knew he was afraid of the wrong thing, that he should be terrified of the strength of his emotion after such a short time since Titan, he shouldn’t be fretting about Stephen’s reaction. Maybe it was saving his life or maybe it was whatever had decided to thread them together, but Tony found he didn’t care. For once, he wanted a love like this, terrifyingly devastating in its possibility of destruction.

   Blue-green eyes opened slowly to blink up at him and Tony’s heart stopped, he waited. He knew the man like the back of his hand, having spent nearly every free minute since Titan with him, learning about magic, learning about him, learning about how everything was so much more then he thought, so he was scared. Stephen knew how to withdraw, hide behind responsibilities and the weight of his demons like a second skin, unbreachable, and Tony wasn’t sure he could survive that, not after having this.

   Trembling fingers, so much worse then before, slipped out from beneath the thick comforter to slide along his chest and Tony let his eyes follow the movement this time. He watched as those fingers moved delicately over raised and ugly scars, tracing and roaming, yet gentle enough to make him shiver. A glance at Stephen showed his eyes intent on his exploration and Tony took several deep breaths as heat followed in the wake of those clever fingers. No touch felt like enough, he wanted to roll over and press his body to length of Stephen’s once more, but he was also afraid to disrupt the hand currently discovering every memory of lessons well learned. So, he continued to watch, and when those fingers finally found their way to the center of his chest, gently skating through the smattering of dark hair, he let his eyes flutter closed.

   It was raw and painful and beautiful as the digits moved over the scar tissue. The feeling used to revolt him, but for the first time in a long time all he felt was the vulnerability without the fear and self-consciousness. He had already been privy to all of Stephen’s scars, it was only fair to give him the same.

   “I’m sorry.”

   The whispered words made his eyes open again. Stephen was looking at him from his pillow, brows furrowed with heart-breaking grief. Tony swallowed thickly, gut turning with the distinct feeling of wrong that expression evoked in him.

   “For what?”

   His trembling palm laid flat against his chest now, the contact Tony’s only blessing in the suddenly tense atmosphere.

   Stephen breathed deeply, those bottomless eyes looking too ancient, “I should have stopped us. It was my responsibility, but I let us get carried away.”

   Tony tried for a smile, feared it came across as a grimace, “Well I can’t say I’m complaining.”

   Stephen shook his head, not able to infuse the same light-heartedness into his voice, “Tony, you don’t understand. We shouldn’t have done this, there had been something…this thread-”

   “I know,” Tony interrupted, something inside him warning him not to let Stephen overthink this. “I’ve felt it since Titan.”

   Stephen blinked in surprise, but quickly sobered again, “it wasn’t supposed to happen. We aren’t supposed to have this connection at all and now it will be so much worse to sever it.”

   Tony felt a shock go through him, his hand came up to grip the one still laying on his chest, he wondered if it could feel the rapid beating of his heart, “why does it need to be severed at all?”

   His expression twisted and Tony swore he saw something wistful in it and he planned to take full advantage, but before he could Stephen was speaking again, eyes not meeting this time, “Tony, you don’t mean that. All of this had been artificial, a side affect of the bond, there isn’t anything real here.”

   Tony didn’t even need to think about it to know that was bullshit, the problem was convincing Stephen of it. The man in question, however, sat up abruptly and Tony followed suit only to realize he was slipping from the bed, “I need to go.” He murmured.

   That was completely unacceptable. Tony’s hand shot out, unable to grab any part of the man’s body, but his palm ended up pressed against the smooth plain of his upper shoulder, not holding, not pushing, just touching. Stephen paused, legs already swung over the bed, body tense with intent to walk away.

   Tony was a complicated man, he had a list a mile long of emotional and physical issues, he was arguably a complete irreparable mess, but there were two other important parts of him, the first being his decisiveness and the second his impulsiveness. He wanted Stephen with a reckless abandon and while he was smart enough to accredit some of that to this thread that currently felt horribly strained between them, he also knew better then to think that was all there was.

   Tony had felt something before Titan, standing in his Sanctuary, he had felt safe despite the man’s frustrating attitude, he had felt intrigued and he had felt want. That entire time there had been no thread, it only came after his life was saved. No, he wanted this man with or without the bond and he was willing to gamble the chance Stephen wanted him too.

   “I don’t care. Whatever it is, whatever it means, I would have wanted you anyway.”

   Stephen’s shoulders hunched inwards, and Tony slid his hand up and then down in an attempt to sooth, “you can’t know that,” he said tightly.

   “I can,” Tony countered. “I felt that bond from the moment it appeared, and I’ve always been able to differentiate between it and my own feelings…before today. I’ve wanted you since you appeared in that park and I’ll be damned if I let you make us both miserable.”

   A weak chuckle and Tony’s heart soared with the feeling of hope. He took several deep breaths, shoulders rising and falling, “fuck I want to stay, but I know better.”

   Tony shifted until he got closer and for once he didn’t bother hesitating, didn’t question if it would be welcomed, and wrapped his arms tightly around the man. It was the right move, Stephen immediately leaned back into his embrace, face twisted with uncertainty and worry.

   Tony rested his head on his chin, “then stay. Stay with me and we’re figure out the rest. If there is anything, I’ve learned about you is that you are self-sacrificing to the point of misery. Not this time, you don’t get to choose for me.”

   The expression on his face didn’t abate but he also didn’t move, and Tony was willing to sit here all night holding him if that was what it took. In the end it was only forty minutes until he was able to coax him back into the bed and under the covers. This time Tony stretched out along his side, arms wrapped around him, he couldn’t help himself, “did you see this? In the stone?”

   “Yes,” he whispered, a hand caressing his jaw, eyes looking at him like it was the first time.

   “Then why are you so worried about us?”

   “Because I’m terrified it isn’t real and I don’t know what happens next.”

   Tony smiled lightly at that, felt his heart pick up again with a familiar rush of excitement, “good, because I think this is going to be the best part.”

**Author's Note:**

> Something short and sweet :)  
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
